Spring recycling collection is a major draw

Each spring, the collection of recyclable electronics, household hazardous waste items and tires at the St. Joseph County fairgrounds results in some staggering numbers.

By Jef RietsmaJournal Correspondent

Each spring, the collection of recyclable electronics, household hazardous waste items and tires at the St. Joseph County fairgrounds results in some staggering numbers.

Consider the take from the April 2012 collection: 454 tires, 12,000 pounds of household hazardous waste items and 27,000 pounds of electronics, enough to fill 46 pallets and 1 1/2 semi trailers.

Organizers of this year’s spring collection, scheduled for 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, are expecting similar, if not greater, numbers.

“We do this twice a year and the spring event always draws larger numbers than the fall collection,” said Pat Kulikowski, a member of the St. Joseph County Solid Waste Management Planning Committee, which sponsors the collection.

“Nobody has ever come up with a really good explanation, other than people just seem to do a lot of spring cleaning,” Kulikowski said.

It helps, though, that the annual Home and Garden Expo and countywide garage sale also take place Saturday at the fairgrounds, Kulikowski said.

She said it’s not unusual for someone to attend the Expo or garage sale, and bring along some dust-covered items to recycle.

Weather, of course, is typically a wild card. Kulikowski said rain is always a detriment; cool weather has less of an impact on the numbers, but can hinder turnout.

After years of rejecting latex paint, the collection this year will finally accept latex paint containers, albeit at a cost of $1 per can, regardless of the amount in the can. Kulikowski said ePaint Recycling, a Battle Creek-based company that recycles latex paint, has agreed to participate. The recycled paint is a major supplier for Habitat for Humanity.

“Latex paint is an item brought to the collection by a lot of people, so we’re glad (ePaint Recycling) has agreed to come down,” she said. “The $1-per-can fee just covers their costs and they’ve indicated they’d like to come back depending on how things go.”

Acceptable electronics include computers and accessories, microwaves, television and audio equipment, cables and wires, and laptop computers.

Tire recycling is available for $1 per tire; $3 per semi tire; and $15 for each tractor tire.

Another popular stop is the household hazardous waste station, where there’s typically no shortage of oil-based paints, pesticides and batteries.

Kulikowski recalls last spring looking at the boxes loaded with computer monitors, hard drives, keyboards and an assortment of accessories, and other pallets on which TV sets, VCRs and DVD players were piled.

She said the spring collection has been around long enough that many people know to stockpile their items throughout the winter and save them for the drop-off.

“It’s always encouraging to hear people say they could have put it in the garbage, but knew we were doing this and they wanted to recycle instead of throw it away,” Kulikowski said.

The Solid Waste Committee’s $18,000 budget toward the collection allows it to stage two events each year.